First Christensen Vacation!

Well, I was pretty excited to finally fly to Atlanta to see Luke. We'd been apart for most of the break and considering we only live about 40 feet from each other in Provo, this whole across the country thing was something different. So I got on a plane on  a cold December morning to fly to the opposite corner of the country to finally be with Luke again.  Luke and I had been talking about this trip for so long and I was so excited to get off the plane in Atlanta and see him! After about 6 hours of flying, I made it to Atlanta.  I had gone from the cold air of the Pacific Northwest to the warm southern air.  The first stop from the airport was Chick-fil-a of course! This was not any old Chick-fil-a, it was in fact the very first Chick-fil-a.  It was was a nice sit down one actually, and felt very homey.  If only every Chick-fil-a were like the first one.

On our way home, Luke showed me a little of his hometown but I was very excited to get to his house.  And his home was filled with family.  I met his cute southern grandmother and finally got to meet his sister-in-law, Christine.  Everyone else I had already met and it was wonderful to be with them again.

The next morning we hit the road for New Orleans where we would then board our cruise.  Laura's (Luke's mom) neighbor was so kind to let us use her eight-passenger mini van so that we could all drive to New Orleans together.  It wasn't as tight of a squeeze as I thought it would be.  All in all, there's no better way to get to know my future in-laws then experiencing a quality road trip with them.

On our way we stayed the night in Mobile, Alabama.  I had no idea where Mobile was, so I looked it up on my phone and we seemed to be right on the gulf! I've been to many place in this world, but the Gulf Coast was somewhere I had never been to.  We stayed the night in a hotel and saw Les Mis.  I was glad I got to see it, and thank goodness for Mr. Wargo senior year.  Without him making us read the abbridged version, I would have been lost.  Anne Hathaway = incredible.

The next day we made it to New Orleans! I had never been on a cruise ship before and I was so excited! More of Luke's family would soon join us.  In all, there were fifteen of us.(11 adults, 4 kids). It was so great to have everyone together.  His family spans from India and Thailand, to Kentucky and North Carolina.  All coming together was rare and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of it.

The first two days were at sea.  It was so nice to relax and spend time with the family.  We played lots of games, especially Hand and Foot, a family favorite on my side as well.  To say I ate a lot is an understatement.  For anyone who knows me well, they know that I absolutely love food and that my size can be decieving.  I tried alligator, lobster, quail and frog legs for the first time.  I'd suggest them all, except for the frog legs.

Our first excersion was Progreso.  It was especially cool to be right where Luke did a study abroad just 18 months ealier.  Luke was enjoying being back at a second home for him.  I had been to Mexico before to visit some family, but I had never been to the beach of Mexico.  It was so nice to feel warm sun rays on my skin.  We were not missing Utah one bit.  We all even got an hour long back massage right on the beach with warm sun shining down on us.  The food was amazing as well, of course.

Oh the sun

Little AJ

Yummy food on the beach

I've never seen someone drink so much soda in a week.

Burying Uncle Luke!

Just strolling through the market

Where we had our wonderful full-body massages

That night it was New Year's Eve.  As midnight got closer, we went up on deck to dance until the New Year.  It was so fun and just really cool to celerate the new year on a ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, and Luke and I's first New Years together :)

The last sunset of 2012

Deck Party!

They're going to become parents this year!!!

The next day we were on the island of Cozumel.  We decided to stay the day at a beach resort and it was so nice to relax and enjoy the warm water and sun.  Luke and I even got to do a bit of snorkeling.  Laura and Logan went scuba diving and told us of vibrant fish and sea turtles that they got to see.

Such blue water!

The road trip back went well, besides Luke making three major driving mistakes within his first 90 seconds of his driving shift. But we made it back safely! On our way back we drove through the French Quarter of New Orleans.  I must say, Disneyland did a great job of replicating the city.

The next day Luke and I went to Atlanta. I fell in love.  I had no idea the surrounding areas would be so pretty, and I was there in the WINTER. And this is the girl who swore to her southern roommate freshman year that she would never live in the south.  I definitely could.

We went to The World of Coca-Cola which was way cool. Drank different sodas from around the world.  There are some pretty interesting flavors out there.  It was neat to see the CNN Center, walk through Centennial Park, visit Georgia Tech (So glad Luke chose BYU over a Georgia Tech full-ride, for obvious reasons :) and eat at The Varsity! Best onion rings ever.

 

 Luke is studying mechanical engineering and is thinking about going into manufacturing.  He obviously LOVED watching the factory work.

All in all it was a WONDERFUL trip.  I was so grateful that I got to spend so much time with Luke's family. I am now even more excited to become a Christensen.  Coming together was rare and fun and I am so excited to see them again at our wedding.